by Zora Marie
“We won’t just stand by and watch, especially if Alrindel is there,” Eragon added.
“Now you talk as if you know Alrindel,” Zelia said.
“We crossed paths a long time ago. He holds an unwavering hand against Darkans.”
“That may in part be because of my first death. The one Asenten took advantage of to gain control of me. He and the wizards he was closest to demanded that I demonstrate my powers to them and to do so they sent me into a horde of Darkans. I had never used my powers before, I didn’t even know I had them. That’s also when I found out that using too much fire and ice together will kill me and anyone nearby. Well, I don’t really die.”
They came to the river as she glanced around at them.
Keller pointed to the river. “I thought you said it was a small river. How the heck are we going to get across that?”
Zelia slid from Bête Noire’s back, judging the speed of the currents.
“The nearest bridges are not for several leagues in either direction and they’re nothing more than felled trees as this river only shows on the maps of trappers. You are welcome to use one of them or you can follow me,” Eragon said.
“Wait, I can freeze it.”
She turned a ghostly white as she walked out to the center of the river. She hadn’t really intended for her powers to turn her to ice. But she hadn’t used fire in a while, so her body took to it a little too well.
Bête Noire crossed as Zelia turned back to the others.
“Come on, I can’t hold moving water very long.”
Their horses didn’t want to cross the icy river, so she switched languages.
“It’s fine, cross the river.”
The horses stared at her and blinked a few times before crossing over.
She used the ice to get back onto Bête Noire, then unfroze the river. It took her a while to return to her normal color as she didn’t force it.
Saria looked over at Keller and Kafthry. “Why do you two look unsurprised?”
“Saw her turn to ice when she got caught in dragon ice and then killed a dragon Trapper Captain. Only that time she cracked as she had used fire just before, or at least I think that’s how she explained it.”
Eragon cocked his head as he turned to Zelia. “Cracked?”
“In ice form, I shatter if I’ve used fire recently. In full fire, which none of you have ever seen and hopefully never will, I explode if I have used ice recently. My environment decides how long it takes me to reform. Though I’m not sure how that’ll work now that I have a steel plate holding my ribcage together.”
“Why do you tell us so much about yourself when we tell you so little of ourselves?” Saria asked.
“I have many reasons for doing it. But I’m hoping you’ll be less likely to jump needlessly to your deaths for me. Besides, the last time I tried to hide what I was, a dragon tested their theory about me with their fire breath. It didn’t go so well, they tried to give me a burial at sea.”
She switched topics. “It won’t be long until The Pack of the Ridge challenges us. Don’t pull any weapons when they show up.”
“How do you know they are nearby?” Saria asked.
“The trees, they like to chatter about wolves.”
It was getting dark and Keller and Kafthry were having a hard time seeing. So, Saria moved back beside them.
“They’re here,” Zelia whispered.
Seconds later wolves howled all around them, and a chill ran down her spine. She smiled as she switched languages and announced herself. “Dain, it’s me, Zelia. I come with friends, try not to scare them too much, please.”
Huge white and silver wolves stepped out into the moonlight.
Then an even larger black wolf stepped out of the shadows. “Zelia! It’s been a long time. We were on the other side of the mountain until we heard the trees stirring up a commotion about your return. We had to come see it for ourselves. Just where are you going?” He flicked his tail as he sniffed the air.
“To the Hold, and before you say it, I know war is impending. That’s the reason I must go.”
Dain scratched his ear with an eye closed.
“Come on, there’s an abandoned trappers’ cabin nearby, we’ll keep watch. You guys don’t look like you’ve slept well in a while.”
As he got up and turned, flicking his tail, she thanked him.
Bête Noire continued after the black wolf while she waved the others to follow.
Eragon rode up next to her. “So, what did he say?”
“Dain says they’ll watch over us as we travel through their territory. We can all rest easy for the next few nights.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Not long before Asenten’s death I saved Dain from some Ogres; he was just a pup back then.”
Dain came to a stop. “Here you are. Sleep well, Zelia.”
Before she could reply, he disappeared into the trees. She slid from Bête Noire. “Go eat while you can boy, see you in the morning.”
She stepped into the dusty cabin and Saria lit a candle from her pack so they could all see to pick their spots to sleep.
31
Zelia woke to Dain’s cold wet nose nudging her.
“Come on, wake up.”
“What is it Dain?”
“You stopped breathing and your heart doesn’t sound right.”
She nodded towards the door and crept out of the little cabin. Dain followed her to an open area where the sun was rising in the distance.
“Zelia, what’s going on with you? Is that why you look so exhausted?”
She gave a slight nod and sat in the damp grass. “A lot of things have happened.”
“Why were you in that cave? Where did you go?”
“Asenten was holding me captive. Someone came to free me, and he attacked them. I put myself between them and got hurt, so they took me back with them.”
“I went looking for you again, my mother didn’t believe me when I told her about you. When I returned, all I found was blood. The trees said someone from somewhere else took you, but now you’re back and fighting the Darkans?”
“They’re going to kill someone I cared about. No, someone I still care about. I can’t undo what I have done, but maybe I can change what will happen. I have to at least try.”
“And I have to believe you can do anything you set your mind to, you saved me.”
It had been so long since she had petted Dain that he flinched when she reached up to stroke his head. Then he leaned into her hand, and she scratched him just behind his ear.
“I guess I should go wake the others. Thank you, Dain.”
Dain shook out his coat. “Don’t mention it.”
The sky had just lightened enough to see by when Zelia whistled softly alongside the birds. The others inside stirred as she picked up her bag. With the others packing, she set to work tacking the horses. Eragon and Saria came out to join her as she slipped from a tree onto Bête Noire.
“How long have you been up?” Eragon asked.
“Not long. Come on. We have some ground to cover.”
She stopped under a pear tree and tossed a few in her pack before taking a bite of one, the tart juice dripping down her chin. A couple minutes later they set out towards the Faithful Mountains.
The next few days they slept under the stars and were light-hearted as the wolves howled all around them and the Faithfull Mountains grew before them. Eragon and Saria even taught Keller and Kafthry a few songs as they traveled.
The day came for Zelia to say goodbye to Dain. He sat amongst his pack as one by one the wolves disappeared back into the trees. After they had all gone, he stood and lowered his head to her.
“Take care of yourself, Zelia.”
His pack howled a call of goodbye as he, too, disappeared into the trees.
She took the first watch that night. When time rolled around for her to wake her relief, she didn’t budge.
Eragon woke up on his own as he was next to
take watch. He found her high in a tree looking down at the horses. She didn’t say anything when he approached the tree, so he climbed up after her.
As he reached the branch she was sitting on, she scooted out away from the trunk so he could sit against it.
Eragon looked down at the horses.
“You should go get some rest.”
Zelia sighed as she leaned against him, her head resting against his shoulder.
“It’s been getting worse, hasn’t it?”
She let out a shaky breath as she didn’t know what to say.
“You don’t have to talk about your heart if you don’t want to, but if there’s anything I can do…”
“I used to stay with Rogath, listening to his heart as we slept. It seemed to help.”
“Why didn’t you say something before?”
“I can’t seem weak to others.”
He ran his fingers through her dark brown curls. “You’re anything but weak. You are possibly the strongest person I know. Now get some rest.”
Before he could say anything more, she dozed off right there in that tree as she leaned against him.
Eragon sighed. “Sleep well, Zelia.”
She woke a little before sunrise.
Eragon smiled and joked, “Sleep in trees often?”
“Not as often as I would like.”
She had turned to face the east that night when she took first watch. They sat watching the sunrise across the mountains.
The others were stretching and rubbing the sleep from their eyes. When Keller spotted them in the tree he called out, “I thought it was my turn to take the morning watch.” He raised his hands. “Not that I’m complaining or anything.”
Eragon slipped out of the tree. “Zelia kept watch later than she was supposed to, so I saw no reason to wake you to watch for such a short time.”
Zelia climbed out of the tree behind him. She appreciated that he didn’t mention why she had kept watch past her turn.
Keller shrugged. “Then you two get to rest the whole night through and we’ll take watch tonight.”
Zelia held a pear in her teeth as she slung her pack over her shoulder.
Kafthry squinted at her. “Do you ever unpack anything?”
She pulled the pear from her mouth, leaving little indents where she hadn’t yet taken a bite. “I only unpack what I need when I need it.”
She went off to the horses and fed the last few bites of her pear to Bête Noire as she leaned against his head, her eyes closed.
After a moment of peaceful bliss, she moved over to a tree with some low branches and used it to climb onto the stallion. She set out to scout their path a bit while the others packed up.
It was midday when they crossed into an area frequented by ogres. They decided to continue on into the night to get to an open area where it would be safer to stop.
As night fell, Eragon led the way since he had been through the area before. Saria led Keller and Kafthry as they jumped at every sound coming from the trees. They had never seen an ogre and weren’t wanting to change that.
They were just a few minutes off from their stopping point when Bête Noire froze in his tracks and Zelia listened to the trees, they were too quiet for her comfort.
She nodded to Eragon before circling back to the others. Keller and Kafthry were useless in the dark as the light of the moon didn’t even pierce the dense canopy. Zelia was tempted to use her control of ice to locate the ogres, but their only weakness was fire and they wouldn’t be able to start one by hand fast enough for it to help. She kept her flames ready, and they continued towards the clearing in the trees.
Eragon notched an arrow.
“Don’t waste your arrows,” Saria warned.
With an arrow nocked, he asked, “Then what do you suggest?”
“Leave them to me,” Zelia said.
When they reached a clearing, Zelia pointed to some logs scattered around the site. “Let me know when you’re ready for me to light it.”
“Stop right there,” a voice boomed, the growl to its speech giving it away as an ogre.
“Show yourselves!” Zelia said.
An ogre bellowed from the trees, “Impatient little one, this one is!”
The tallest ogre she had ever seen moved branches out of his way as he stepped into the open.
“Such a loud noise for such a little person!”
Another one walked out of the trees. “Not even big enough to use as a toothpick is that one?”
Zelia pulled her sword and spun it at her side as another one laughed from the trees.
“Not a very bright one, now is she? They should know swords and arrows don’t hurt us!”
She spun the sword around again and rolled her shoulders back to loosen them from the long day’s ride.
“I know.”
The ogre laughed as he reached for her. “You’re not worth eating but I will make an exception.”
Just as the ogre was about to grab her, she jumped and ran up his arm. Her sword lit ablaze as she drove it into the top of his head, the fire burning a path through the ogre’s skull. She clung to the hilt as he staggered back bellowing in pain, swatting at his flaming head.
Before he could crumble to ashes, she jumped to the next ogre.
Her sword sank up to the hilt and held as the blue flames spread across the monstrous creature.
She dropped to the ground as ashes fluttered down.
“Anyone else?”
Several smaller ogres ran out of the trees with screams of anger. She sank the blade of her sword halfway into the earth. Flames snaked across the ground like cracks on a frozen pond until all the ogres crumbled to ash.
She pulled her sword from the ground and stood.
“You have a little ash, well, everywhere,” Eragon said, his amusement thinly veiled.
She glanced down at herself. “Yeah. You said there was a stream up ahead, right?”
“Yes, and we shouldn’t stay here after all that racket. Everything in the area will have to come check out the commotion.” He scanned the area for a moment, then turned back to her. “Would you like a hand up?”
With a sigh, Zelia nodded and let Eragon lift her onto Bête Noire’s back. This time she and Saria rode in back as that’s where danger was likeliest to come from. Eragon led them through the trees until they came to a small stream, the water gurgling as it carved its way through the forest.
They all topped off their water reserves and let the horses get their fill while Zelia slipped downstream to clean up. The water was near freezing, even this far from the mountains, so she made a flame hover around her hands as she splashed water over herself before sticking her hair in the water. She wished she could control it like Rogath, she’d have been clean and dry by now. She paused, letting out a long breath. I’m sorry Rog. I wish you could forgive me. When there was no response, she dried herself best she could without singeing her clothes and headed back.
When she returned, Eragon was waiting to help her get back on her horse.
She yawned and Eragon teased, “Not going to fall asleep on us while riding, now are you?”
She blinked a few times. “I’ll try not to,” she said, unable to think of the last time she had restful sleep.
“Awe, poor Zelia is tired. You could ride with one of us. You know, so you don’t fall off if you doze,” Keller teased.
Saria shot him a hateful look. “She’s just a child! She may be older than any of your kind could ever hope to live. But she is a child none the less. You would do well to remember that.” She turned her nose up and turned her back to him.
“He’s just joking,” Kafthry jumped to Keller’s defense.
Saria’s horse moved in front of them. “Don’t you see she is trying to be strong for everyone around her? Any elf her age hasn’t even seen bloodshed, yet she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. She may be five hundred years old, but that isn’t even fifteen years old for a human. You two need to get your acts
together!”
Keller’s veins visibly throbbed as he argued. “You wait just a minute!”
“Enough!” Zelia yelled before anyone could say another word.
When she did her heart skipped a couple beats, and she gasped. Her eyes fluttered as her vision went fuzzy. She tried to focus in one place, but all she could make out were the outlines of those around her. Then her knees buckled beneath her.
Eragon caught her, kneeling to bring her head closer to level with her heart.
“Zelia. Zelia. Are you okay?”
He searched her eyes for a response.
The others all dismounted and circled around as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“I… I’m sorry Zelia. I didn’t mean to...” Keller’s voice trailed off, unsure of what to say.
She took another deep breath and blinked a few times before speaking.
“It’s not your fault.” She took another breath. “My heart’s been giving fits ever since that night on Fairy Island. It’s just catching up with me.”
Something moved in the trees across the stream and she sat up, regretting the movement the moment she made it.
“We can’t stay here. But I can’t stand up or ride on my own right now. Not until my heart catches up...,” she paused to take a breath, “with the rest of me.”
Eragon stood up with her in his arms.
“Here, will one of you hand her to me once I get on. I know of someone who may be able to help.”
Something rustled even closer in the trees as they climbed onto their horses.
They rode a few hours north, and the sky lightened with the morning’s sun as they reached a clearing in the trees. A little log cabin and barn sat high on a hill looking up at the mountains.
32
“I thought we said we never wanted to see your face again Eragon,” a gruff, dwarven accented voice greeted them.
“I know.” Eragon said and Zelia could feel him glance at her as she sat shaking in his arms, slipping in and out of sleep. “But she needs help.”
Someone sighed. “Bring her inside,” a female said in Elven. “Nordock, put your ax away. Eragon wouldn’t be here without good reason.”
